Askari Metals’ recent trawl through a historical exploration database at its Uis project in Namibia has identified significant tin, tantalite and rubidium mineralisation within its licence area.
The review reveals “exceptionally high” tin, tantalum and rubidium responses from a 492-sample rock chip database, with assays including 3.17 per cent tin oxide, 5226 parts per million (ppm) tantalum pentoxide and 0.87 per cent rubidium oxide.
The tenement is Askari’s southernmost holding in the area and is just 14 kilometres southwest of Andrada Mining’s well-established Uis tin mine.
Mapping and rock chip sampling at Askari’s nearby 3km by 30-metre Kestrel pegmatite target has also turned up elevated responses with up to 0.38 per cent tin oxide, which is typically represented by the mineral cassiterite, and 672ppm tantalum pentoxide, generally present as the mineral tantalite.
Historical drilling data has also come up with high grades that include four 1m intervals carrying tin oxide at grades of 0.13 per cent to 0.25 per cent tin oxide and 173ppm to 227ppm tantalum pentoxide.
Askari says the exploration results and its newly identified pegmatite exploration targets have never been followed up, despite being hosted by the same pegmatite geology hosting mineralisation at Andrada’s operating Uis tin mine.
Askari Metals director Gino D’Anna said: “Uis is fast emerging as a serious strategic asset for the company owing to its location along strike from the operating Uis tin mine. Historical exploration at the Uis project has demonstrated significant high grades of mineralisation including tin, tantalum and rubidium, comparable with the results outlined by our neighbour, Andrada Mining.”
Tin is currently in strong demand and trading at US$31,275 (A$49,147) per tonne. Analysts forecast the global tantalum market will grow at a compound annual rate of about 5.88 per cent to $126.4 million by the end of the decade.
D’Anna said Uis is a heavily underexplored opportunity for Askari and with the current high tin prices, it was too hard for the company to ignore.
The company plans further exploration aimed at developing and expanding the known tin and tantalum mineralisation on the licence area.
The work will comprise an initial extensive program of soil geochemistry within its key structural corridor of interest to define additional areas of tin-tantalum or indicator mineral anomalism, focussing on identifying buried or blind pegmatites.
That work will be accompanied by detailed mapping and rock chip sampling of new targets in the licence area.
Subject to results from the preceding work, the company plans to put an excavator on site to conduct a first phase of trench sampling at identified target sites.
Askari has already identified five new targets on the licence, which will be subject to further follow-up exploration for high-grade tin and tantalum mineralisation.
The company says its low-cost work programs aim to deliver exploration targets within its licence area with a high level of confidence prior to conducting further drilling to explore the promising polymetallic mineralisation at Uis.
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By Doug Bright
